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Heuristic anytime approaches to stochastic decision processes

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Abstract

This paper proposes a set of methods for solving stochastic decision problems modeled as partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs). This approach (Real Time Heuristic Decision System, RT-HDS) is based on the use of prediction methods combined with several existing heuristic decision algorithms. The prediction process is one of tree creation. The value function for the last step uses some of the classic heuristic decision methods. To illustrate how this approach works, comparative results of different algorithms with a variety of simple and complex benchmark problems are reported. The algorithm has also been tested in a mobile robot supervision architecture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of System Engineering, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36200, Vigo, Spain

    Joaquín L. Fernández, Rafael Sanz & Amador R. Diéguez

  2. Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15214, USA

    Reid G. Simmons

Authors
  1. Joaquín L. Fernández
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  2. Rafael Sanz
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  3. Reid G. Simmons
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  4. Amador R. Diéguez
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Correspondence to Joaquín L. Fernández or Rafael Sanz.

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Fernández, J.L., Sanz, R., Simmons, R.G. et al. Heuristic anytime approaches to stochastic decision processes. J Heuristics 12, 181–209 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10732-006-4834-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10732-006-4834-3

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